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It reminded me of when I was first diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my wrists and ankles about 10 years ago. On the advice of an orthopedic surgeon I tried these glucosamine and chondroitin horse-size pills for about six months and got absolutely no relief and saw no improvement.

This spring, on the recommendation of a doctor friend, I tried a daily vitamin regimen of a product called Vemma.. this nasty tasting stuff.. after taking it for 5 months... also did not produce the advertised results.

I have been battling a cold and congestion for few weeks now. All of these 'natural' cures remind me of the old saying:

If you take care of yourself and drink plenty of liquids you can beat a cold in about 2 weeks. If you do nothing the cold will hang on for 14 days.

So I am wondering if any of you all have gotten any real help from home remedies.

Please share with us a bit of your wisdom.. everything from chicken soup to health food.. from one-a-day vitamins to mega-fish-oil pills. Please feel free to share about things that didn't work as well.

I think that leadership on this bill came from main street Brian. Many DC politicians are afraid of the backlash of voting for this bailout.. especially the ones that are up for re-election.

My thinking is that they need to take their time on this legislation and get it right.. the word of the day should be patience not expediency.

I think that wisdom might come if our congressional leaders stand up to the pressure to get-er-done and find a way to insure that the interests of American taxpayers are at the heart of legislation.. the bill needs to protect Main Street and not Wall Street.

A few excerpts from this Christianity Today interview with Christian author and financial guru Dave Ramsey on the $700 billion plan for the government to purchase troubled mortgage assets.

What do you think of the bailout?

I think it's a disaster. It's the largest government department ever formed in the history of man, and they are doing it in five days, and they are doing it based on a spirit of fear.

There are other things we could be doing to calm markets. All of the Bush administration appears to be in a dead dog panic. I'm afraid it's going to pass, but that doesn't mean we're going to like it.

What do you recommend instead?

Change the market accounting rules. Do away with the capital gains tax, which will cause money to flood into the market instantaneously in 24 hours. Last, if we do need to do some insurance of some of these bonds, we can insure them rather than just buying them all. Only 7 percent of them are in foreclosure, while 93 percent of them are paying, so why are we buying them all—so we can make Paulson king?

Regardless of your take on this enormous bailout I think that you will agree that the congress needs to slow down and take a more thoughtful measured reaction to this Wall Street crisis.

A spokeswoman for screen legend Paul Newman says the actor has died at age 83.

Spokeswoman Marni Tomljanovic says Newman died Friday of cancer. No other details were immediately available.

Newman was nominated for Academy Awards 10 times, winning a regular Oscar in 1987 for "The Color of Money" and two honorary ones. He was equally at home in comedies such as "The Sting" and dramas such as "Hud."

He sometimes teamed with his wife, Joanne Woodward, also an Oscar winner for the 1957 film "Three Faces of Eve."

I will always remember Paul as Fast Eddie Felson in that wonderful movie titled The Hustler. Other movie favorites of mine that featured his outstanding acting prowess have to include The Verdict, The Sting, Cool Hand Luke, and Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.

Once upon a time the likes of Ronald Reagan spoke at conferences held by the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). So it surprised me when Richard Cizik, chief NAE lobbyist, gave this somewhat anti-Republican interview reported in Christianity Today. Here are a few excerpts from the interview:

I'm of the opinion that some people are going to vote Republican no matter what.... Party line voting in my opinion is unbiblical. It says you don't think. If you're simply voting on same sex marriage and abortion, you're not thinking. What I'm saying is that a lot of evangelical don't think, sad to say....There's a demographic shift that's occurring. Young [evangelicals] are less tied to the Republican Party. Those who are disaffected with the GOP are not becoming Democrats. They're becoming Independents. It's a slow moving earthquake that you don't fully recognize....Evangelicals are 50-percent conservative. There are 10 percent that are liberal, and you've got 40-percent that are swing voters. They're the people that McCain has to worry about because if, for whatever reason--the economy, etc.--they go for Obama, then McCain is in trouble. If they decide to vote on economic reasons or the war, then McCain is in trouble.

I think that Cizik gave this kind of interview because the McCain campaign has been snubbing his requests for a meeting and the Obama campaign has been listening to him. That said, I have to say that I found some of his perspectives to be very interesting.. helps explain the way that I have been feeling.

In next week's issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are bumping fists further satirizing that New Yorker magazine cover. I think that, for once, the right kind of magazine is showcasing this kind of satire. Stewart and Colbert both broadcast (as Stewart calls it) The Fake News and do a pretty good job satirizing the whole political process. I find this kind of satire helpful because you know what it is when you are watching it.

Of course many people have a hard time seeing this kind of satire when they listen to Rush Limbaugh or watch Keith Olbermann. Folks on the right and left side of the political aisle substitute this kind of satire for real news and believe the hype. The sad part is that people are not open to factual reporting and demonize the media deferring to their favorite radio or TV squawk-spinner.

I think that satire has it's place in politics but should not be embraced as hard news. We Americans should not be making our voting decisions based on satirical TV ads, spinning-talking-heads or the views presented on the Comedy Central cable TV network.

George Washington Carver (1864-1943) worked in agricultural extension at the Tuskegee Institute, in Tuskegee, Alabama, teaching former slaves farming techniques for self-sufficiency. His exact birth day (and year) are unknown, yet it is known that it was some time before slavery was abolished in Missouri in January, 1864.

In addition to his work on agricultural extension education, Carver's important accomplishments also included improvement of racial relations, mentoring children, poetry, painting, and religion. He served as a valuable role model for black Americans and others, and as an example of the importance of hard work, a positive attitude, and a good education. His humility, humanitarianism, good nature, frugality, and lack of economic materialism also have been admired widely.

One of his most important roles was in undermining, through the fame of his achievements and many talents, the widespread stereotype of the time that the black race was intellectually inferior to the white race. In 1941, Time magazine dubbed him a "Black Leonardo", a reference to Leonardo da Vinci. Here are a few things that he said:

Most people search high and wide for the keys to success. If they only knew, the key to their dreams lies within.

Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.

Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater.

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.

If you love it enough, anything will talk with you.

Learn to do common things uncommonly well; we must always keep in mind that anything that helps fill the dinner pail is valuable.

No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving something behind.

There is no short cut to achievement. Life requires thorough preparation - veneer isn't worth anything.

Commenting on Meltdown, USA I said the following about our current econmic crisis:

I think that a lot of the problem in our American culture is the notion that we deserve to be blessed.. it permeates the church as well the rest of the country. Some health and wealth preachers capitalize on it but all Americans buy into it.. you do and so do I.

This “right to be blessed” causes people to over-extend themselves, making purchases that they cannot afford today but feel that future earned blessings will cover the bills. Personally, I think that if I work hard and save I deserve to be blessed.. and I go to some strange places believing this American dream.

I think that the baby boom generation has bought into this “blessing” mentality because, unlike our parents, we did not have to experience hard times like the depression. I am hoping that the current economic meltdown is not of that “great depression” magnitude but if it is I suspect that our kids and grandkids might have a different perspective on blessing.

Making your own Capitol One Credit Card - one of the most annoying.. be it Armadillo Man or the old submarine captain these commercials play to ignorance and our desire to persoanlize our materialism.

Singing about how life would be better if they only used freecreditreport.com - again we see this theme of how credit is the answer if we just don't borrow too much. I don't want to say much more lest I find myself singing that really bad song later in the day :(

And I have to say that the Geico caveman commercials are getting old. The most recent installment with Billy Jean King is just stupid.. maybe that is the point.

Commercials like these make me glad that I usually DVR most TV shows and fly past the commercials :)

Michael Hyatt, President & CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, recently posted about why they published Lynne Spears’ new book pictured right. Michael gives four reasons why they posted. I found reason four to be worth repeating:

It is a book about faith. Lynne is a Christian. She is not afraid to admit it. She doesn’t wear her faith on her sleeve, but it permeates her life. Despite the caricature created by the tabloid media, she walks her talk. She is not perfect, but she is consistent. And humble.

When Gail and I had dinner with her, I asked, “With all that you have gone through, was there ever a time that you gave up on God?” She paused and then said, “No, I don’t think I ever gave up on God. But I gave up on myself.” She continued, “Ten years ago, I thought I was a pretty good parent. After Jamie Lynn told me she was pregnant, I thought I must be the worst parent on the planet. So I didn’t give up on God, but I started to give up on myself. But that’s when I felt that God was saying to me, ‘I am sufficient, even when you feel you aren’t.

This brief account gave me a glimpse into another parent's pain and how God helped her gain a new perspective about arenting and life.. and I just wanted to share it.. and if you blog you can get the book free if you are willing to review it.

My blogfriend and fellow Kansas Citian Bill Tammeus writes about this book today offering the following quote from it:

"Take those who love you, one at a time, and sit down and ask them how they're feeling about your death. Then shut your mouth and listen. . . . Letting people grieve is simply another way to let them love you. It's not your fault that you are dying. Don't make it their fault that they are grieving. . . . Bless their tears. Tell them they mean the world to you. And before you know it, you will be crying, too, for them, for you, for the whole aching world."

The book's author, Forrest Church, is dying of cancer and seems to have captured a bit of grace that has manifested in heartfelt wisdom about the art of dying.

The subtitle of the book is My Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow. It reminds me of a time when I walked through the valley of my first wife's death - wish I had this book back then. Nine months before she died I had a vision of that valley.. thought that I would share it with you:

At thirty-nine years old my first wife, Ellen, had heart and kidney failure.. at the brink of her death I found myself begging God to not let her die.. I could not accept her situation or the possibility of her death. Three and a half years later after praying almost daily for her healing.. never giving up.. I found myself again faced with the possibility of her dying. Driving to work one day.. racked with the agony of thoughts of a world without Ellen.. I began to pray in the Spirit. I saw a picture in my mind. In this vision I saw myself standing on a mountain looking down at a valley.. some how I knew it was the valley of the shadow of Ellen's death. As I looked into the vision I saw Jesus come to my side, take my hand, and walk with me into the valley. It was a comforting picture. God was trying to tell me that he would be with me when Ellen died and that I would be ok.

Death is something that we have so little training on. Death is a mystery but loving those who are dying and those affected by death should not be a mystery. Please help us to make death a bit less mysterious by sharing a comment about how love helped you, or someone you know, get through a death.

"We are going to reform the way Wall Street does business and stop multi-million dollar payouts and golden parachutes to CEOs who break the public trust."

An interesting thought considering Carly Fiorina, one of McCain's top advisors, recieived about $21 million in gold when she was fired from Hewlett-Packard in 2005 after the company lost one-third of its market value under her tenure.. not bad for a mere 6 years of work.

Of course $21m is small potatoes compared to numbers in the article in the June 17 issue of HR World that lists the most outrageous of parachutes. Here are just a few:

$351m to Lee R. Raymond of Exxon Mobil Corp in 2006

$213m to Henry A. McKinnell of Pfizer in 2006

$158m to Edward Whitacre of AT&T in 2007

The list also included the $34m ripchord that Dick Cheney pulled when he retired from Halliburton and became our VP.

I echo McCain's sentiments to reform the way that CEOs are compensated but I wonder if he is maverick enough to do it.. or if he is just a part of that wealthy CEO crowd who doesn't get it.. perhaps he protesteth too much?

Maybe it is time to give up NFL Sunday football.. or at least take a month-long hiatus. Third string quarterback Tyler Thigpen had a horrible game with three interceptions and poorly thrown passes.. had a few decent drives but overall Thigpen and the offense looked pretty bad.. and the defense didn't look any better. Overpaid star running back Larry Johnson had his first 100+ rushing game in quite a while. This game marks 12 losses in a row since last season.. and that is all I can stomach to say right now.

Desmond Mpilo Tutu (born 7 October 1931) is a South African cleric and activist who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid. Tutu was elected and ordained the first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, and primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the Anglican Church of Southern Africa). He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism, and the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2007.

The African Bishop, Desmond Tutu, was once asked why he became an Anglican rather than joining some other denomination. He replied that in the days of apartheid, when a black person and a white person met while walking on a footpath, the black person was expected to step into the gutter to allow the white person to pass and nod their head as a gesture of respect.

“One day” Tutu says, “when I was just a little boy, my mother and I were walking down the street when a tall white man, dressed in a black suit, came toward us. Before my mother and I could step off the sidewalk, as was expected of us, this man stepped off the sidewalk and, as my mother and I passed, tipped his hat in a gesture of respect to her! I was more than surprised at what had happened and I asked my mother, ‘Why did that white man do that?’ My mother explained, ‘He’s an Anglican priest. He’s a man of God, that’s why he did it.’ When she told me that he was an Anglican priest I decided there and then that I wanted to be an Anglican priest too. And what is more, I wanted to be a man of God.”

I love that story and I am so amazed at how one man's act of kindness impacted such a young boy. Here are a few of Bishop Tutu's quotes for your edification:

Without forgiveness, there's no future.

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.

We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.

I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights.

Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

Actually these aren't really predictions.. just the picks that I personally like the best.. and I didn't include all categories.. only ones that had a nominee that I liked. Here is the complete list of nominees.

"I can’t convince myself we would have been better off under Gore or Kerry."

Caused me to think a bit.. I did vote Bush in 2000 and in 2004.. what would it have been like if he did not win? Here is my not-so-thoughtful response to Nephos:

I think that if Gore was elected we would not have invaded Iraq and many Americans and many more Iraqis would still be alive.. anti-preemptive-war is a part of my pro-life thinking.

Maybe if Kerry got elected the republicans would not have lost the majority in Congress.. maybe we wouldn’t be overly extended (militarily and financially) in Iraq.

I have to admit that I am really not convinced that things would have been better if Bush lost either of those elections.

How would you have responded? Maybe you would speak to how these candidates would have nominated liberal justices to the Supreme Court or how they would have vetoed the congressional ban on partial birth abortions.

It is an interesting to ponder how our country would be different with a different president at the helm.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. (1926-2004) was a Swiss-born psychiatrist and the author of the groundbreaking book On Death and Dying, where she first discussed what is now known as the Kübler-Ross model. The 5 stages of her model.. also known as the 5 stages of grief.. with examples of each stage.. are as follows:

Denial:"I feel fine."; "This can't be happening."'Not to me!"

Anger:"Why me? It's not fair!" "NO! NO! How can you accept this!"

Bargaining:"Just let me live to see my children graduate."; "I'll do anything, can't you stretch it out? A few more years."

Acceptance: "It's going to be OK."; "I can't fight it, I may as well prepare for it."

Here are a few things that Elisabeth said:

Live, so you do not have to look back and say: 'God, how I have wasted my life.

There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence in your room, your garden or even your bathtub.

The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well.

I've told my children that when I die, to release balloons in the sky to celebrate that I graduated. For me, death is a graduation.

It is difficult to accept death in this society because it is unfamiliar. In spite of the fact that it happens all the time, we never see it.

I say to people who care for people who are dying, if you really love that person and want to help them, be with them when their end comes close. Sit with them - you don't even have to talk. You don't have to do anything but really be there with them.

After 85 years, New York City's Yankee Stadium will host an event for the last time this weekend. Next year, the Yankees will play in a new park that is now under construction next to the old park.

Growing up in New York City I was a big Yankee fan. I was 12 years old when Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle slugged it out for the homerun title in 1961. I have a great memory of seeing my boyhood hero Mickey Mantle from center field seats when my older brother took me out to the stadium.

Another national treasure will be razed in these ensuing weeks and I will mourn a bit for a lost era of youthful innocence and for the House that Babe Ruth built.

This morning our local news reported that over 1,000 immigrants will be taking the Oath of Allegiance for Naturalized Citizens in St Louis. It reminded me of that time in the early 90s when a bunch of us from work journeyed down to the court house in Kansas City to support our friend Mike who was becoming a citizen. Not sure that any of us were ready to hear some 100 or so folks say these words:

Oath of Allegiance to the United States taken during
a naturalization ceremony in Portland, Oregon.

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

I have often wondered how many us born in the USA would say those words. I would - how about you?
If you live in another country would you say the oath for your country?

Over the past year I have had a few complaints about the readability of the KB blog because of the dark backgrounds. So I thought about it and changed the blog template.. I also spent $7 and bought the kansasbob.com domain. Well.. I may change it again.. but this is it for now. I am also considering folding my other blog, An Eye for Redemption, into this one.

According to this Christianity Today article vendors selling Obama Waffles were asked to leave last week's Values Voter Summit after people complained about the product.

This waffle mix is yet another example of how unscrupulous folks are playing on people's ignorance. I still get emails from Evangelicals with all sorts of lies about Barack Obama. Here is an excerpt from one that I received yesterday:

"Therefore, there is, indeed, another spirit involved. And this spirit has come into our national life like a flood. Last week at Obama’s acceptance speech, that spirit exalted itself in front of a Greek temple-like stage, and to a huge audience like in a Roman arena. Obama was portrayed as god-like. His voice thundered as a god's voice."

Sincere Christians are listening to people who are still calling Obama a Muslim. These sincere people are keeping themsleves ignorant of the facts and letting Obama be smeared with talks of demonic involvement.

It all just makes me sad.. ignorance should not rule the day.. especially amongst people who claim to have the Spirit of God in their heart.

Just noticed that my sitemeter counter went over 25,000 today. When I started this blog at the end of 2006 I had no idea that I would make so many online friends by just sharing a bit of myself. I introduced it by saying:

This is my attempt to consolidate my rantings and musings on life, politics, entertainment and trivia into one stewpot of rhetoric and monkey business. These posts will tend to be daily and brief in nature and simply reflect what is going on in my boring world.

I just checked and my major blog theme has been.. surprise.. the US presidential campaign (154 posts and counting).. don't know what will I complain about in two months.. the runner up theme has been culture with 120 posts.. all in all I have published 1255 times.

Being undecided about the presidential candidates in September of an election year is such an exhilarating feeling! I don't feel a need to stump my views for or defend the positions of any of the candidates. I can feel free to take pot shots to the left and to the right. Such fun! In view of this I thought that I'd briefly list what I don't like about the candidates:

I don't like the way that McCain is using Karl Rove's lobbyists to run his campaign. I fear that they would be way to involved in the policies that he would proffer to us.

I don't like Obama's solutions that offer more government as the answers to our national problems. I think that we need to reduce government not inflate it.

I didn't like McCain's pick for his VP running mate because I think that she lacks the experience needed for the position. It is an issue of mCCain's judgment.

I think that Obama is not in touch with reality when he says that he had never heard his ex-pastor's extreme pulpit rhetoric. I mean really.. was he asleep.. did he not pay attention or did he just not attend very often?

I don't like that McCain was a weekend husband and father for most of his life. His wife Cindy's drug problems were hid from him for years. It is an issue of judgment and priorities for me.

I don't like Obama's position on abortion. I am pro-life and have a hard time swallowing his snarky pay-grade reply to Rick Warren when asked about when life begins.

I don't like it that neither candidate is talking about some of the big problems that our country is facing. They may have info on their website but neither candidate is really talking much about social security, medicaid, and the deficit.

I don't like all of this talk about celebrity. Come on, Palin has now become the Republican celebrity. Let's get past this.

I think that I could come up with a longer list but I've run out of gas. Maybe I'll list what I like about the candidates in a future post.

Maybe you could add to my list by commenting what you don't like about McCain, Obama and the candidates in general.. even if you are in the tank for one of the candidates.. surely they are not perfect in your eyes :)

Another pitiful excuse of a game for this very old NFL matchup. The Chiefs' defense gave up 300 yards and the offense had one decent drive with their third string quarterback Tyler Thigpen. Overpaid star running back Larry Johnson had about 30 yards.

This game marks 11 losses in a row since last season. It was sad to see so many empty seats at Arrowhead in the third quarter - fans are all pretty disgusted. The Chief's management says that this is a rebuilding season.. not sure that I believe them.. who are they rebuilding around.. their first string QB is a nice guy but he seems a bit fragile. Here's hoping that they can win a few games this year :(

Fifty years ago, in the Aug. 4, 1958, issue, Billboard launched a revolutionary chart called the Hot 100. After nearly two decades of tracking songs distinctively by sales or plays (on jukeboxes and at radio), the Hot 100 was the first list to measure popularity by incorporating both radio play and sales.

The 50th Anniversary Hot 100 Song Chart is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100, since the chart's inception in August 1958 through the issue dated July 26, 2008. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. Here's the top 10:

The Twist :: Chubby Checker

Smooth :: Santana

Mack the Knife :: Bobby Darin

How Do I Live :: Leann Rimes

The Macarena :: Los Del Rio

Physical :: Olivia Newton-Jon

You Light Up My Life :: Debby Boone

Hey Jude :: The Beatles

We Belong Together :: Mariah Carey

Un-break My Heart :: Toni Braxton

The Twist was ground breaking.. yes I remember it.. it was the first "dance" I learned and it did not involve touching your partner :)My other other memorable favorites would have to include numbers 3, 6, 7 and 8. Some of those on the list surprised me.. mainly because I lost track of pop music some time ago.

William Penn Adair “Will” Rogers (1879-1935) was a Cherokee-American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer and actor. He died in a plane crash in 1935 and was one of the great political sages of our country. Enjoy the following quotes:

I never yet met a man that I didn't like.

Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco.

Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.

Never miss a good chance to shut up.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back in your pocket.

There are three kinds of men:..The ones that learn by reading...The few who learn by observation...The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

If you're riding' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there.

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier'n puttin' it back.

After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.

Just added a new widget to my sidebar. The "Pants on Fire" category just cracked me up. You can view all of the Truth-O-Meters here. I guess this is my protest to all of the bad campaign ads out there.

My first experience with telecommuting was in 1989 using a borrowed laptop from work where I dialed into an Informix database and developed a prototype of an engineering system. Since that time I have periodically worked from home with some success. Seems that times have changed alot since those days.. with broadband speeds and creative teleconferencing it is easier than ever to work from home.

What kind of experiences do you have with telecommuting to work from home? What are the tools that you have found to be most effective in your telecommuting? Are you a full time worker from home or do you also go to the office? Any recommendations for others?

I voted with the 48%. Generally speaking I support a parent's right to educate their school aged children at home. I think that it can be a very effective way to train children - especially in their early years. I know parents who have been doing this for over 25 years and have seen many of their children go on to be very successful in life. I think that it is a huge commitment and something that you must feel that God has both called you to and equipped you to do.

What do you think? Do you or anyone you know homeschool? Do you have any experiences to share?

In this edition of Weird World Wednesday, I submit to you Luna the Cockatoo held by her owner Evelyn DeLeon.

Neighbors called police last Wednesday morning after hearing a woman's persistent cry of "Help me! Help me!" coming from a house. Officers arrived and when no one answered the door, they kicked it in to make a rescue. But instead of a damsel in distress, officers found a caged cockatoo with a convincing call.

It wasn't the first time the 10-year-old Luna said something that brought authorities to the home of owner Evelyn DeLeon. About seven years ago, the bird cried like a baby for hours, leading to reports of a possible abandoned baby and a visit to the home by state child welfare workers. But it was only Luna practicing a newfound sound, DeLeon says.

Last week I posted about Sarah Palin's speech to ministry students saying that I am not comfortable with this kind of God language used by political leaders. The Washington Post recently asked religious columnists about it this way:

Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin recently suggested that a gas pipeline is "God's will" and the Iraq war is "a task that is from God." Are you concerned about these or any other candidate's religious views?

Here are a few of the responses they got:

When politicians of any party or persuasion claim to know the will of God in any detail and to be following it in such detail, "better duck!" would be the best advice. Trouble ahead. Obsession, self-righteousness, and fanaticism follow. -Martin Marty

All politicians, Democrats and Republicans alike, love to use God to baptize their political agendas. In August, 1994, President Bill Clinton addressed an African-American congregation in Maryland. Clinton told them it was "the will of God" that Congress pass his anti-crime bill. He didn't say if God would accept any amendments. -Cal Thomas

I am not interested in a candidate's religious views. From the outside looking in, the beliefs of another's faith community often seem very strange, weird, and even frightening. The issue of concern for me is not what a candidate believes about God but whether a candidate believes in the separation of church and state. -Rabbi Irwin Kula

I am concerned about anyone who claims the ability to speak with certainty about the will of God. When that claim is coupled with partisan politics, my concern turns into fear. -Welton Gaddy

I am concerned, not about this candidate's religious views (that particular political decisions might be in accordance with God's will) but about her political judgment. Christian political decisions need to be made in wisdom, and these decisions seem to me unwise for reasons that are obvious to some, opaque to others, but would take too long to spell out. -Bishop N.T. Wright

A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around looking for valuables, and when he picked up a VCR to place in his sack, a strange, disembodied voice echoed from the dark saying, "Jesus is watching you."

He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight out and froze. When he heard nothing more after a bit, he shook his head, promised himself a long vacation after his next big score, then clicked the light back on and began searching for more valuables.

Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard, "Jesus is watching you."

Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice. Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot...

I think it was back in the 70s when I first became aware of "All You Can Eat" restaurants. In the 80s I started to see a subtle transition to "All You Care To Can Eat". These days I don't see too much of this phenomenon. On occasion I still frequent these types of "buffets". Most prominently of these establishments are the Sunday brunch places (I love made to order omelets). Other than those places there are two "All You Can Eat" places around here that I like: Cinzetti's Italian Market and Sweet Tomatoes.

How about you? Do you like these buffet style places? Any favorites?

Of course the bible endorses this kind of eating in 1Corinthians 9:27 :)

Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama said Saturday they will put aside partisan politics for a joint appearance at ground zero to mark the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, in a statement, said they will appear together at the World Trade Center site on Thursday "to honor the memory of each and every American who died" in the 2001 attacks.

The campaigns already had agreed to suspend television advertising critical of each other on Sept. 11. The McCain campaign has said it will air no ads that day.

Both campaigns have been running negative television ads and, at the just-concluded political conventions, pulled no punches in exploiting partisan differences.

Obama and McCain said Thursday will be different.

"All of us came together on 9/11 - not as Democrats or Republicans - but as Americans," they said. "We were united as one American family. On Thursday, we will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity."

I will try make an attempt this season at commenting on the home teams' games.. unless it gets too painful.

Both quarterbacks had to leave because of injuries.. not bad for KC.. KC backup Huard did better than starter Croyle. I thought that the KC defense played well but the offense just couldn't bring it home. The last 4 plays of the game were pretty pitiful.. KC was inside the 10 and could not get a score to tie it up.

You don't hear much political God talk these days. Guess that is why I found the following excerpt from this article on Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin's June speech to ministry students at her former church very interesting:

Palin asked the students to pray for the troops in Iraq, and noted that her eldest son, Track, was expected to be deployed there.

"Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God," she said. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan."...Palin told graduating students of the church's School of Ministry, "What I need to do is strike a deal with you guys." As they preached the love of Jesus throughout Alaska, she said, she'd work to implement God's will from the governor's office, including creating jobs by building a pipeline to bring North Slope natural gas to North American markets.

"God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.

Are you comfortable with this kind of God language used by political leaders? I frankly am not. I think that this kind of religious rationalization is what caused us to invade Iraq.

I once heard it said that if someone says that God told them something then the conversation is over. That is the problem with this kind of God talk.. it shuts down the conversation and subtly demonizes the opposing point of view. Of course many religious people are comfortable with this simplistic black and white view of the issues.. it is why many are voting God's choice in this election.. like He is pro-McCain or pro-Obama.. LOL.

This picture is taken of the pipeline close to Prudhoe Bay (the Prudhoe bay area accounts for 17% of U.S. domestic oil production) which is close to the ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) coastal plain. I think that many environmentalists are opposed to drilling in ANWR because they believe that the drilling will take place in the beautiful wildlife refuge portion of the area.. others feel that oil spills in the ugly part may contaminate the beautiful part. I am a proponent of drilling in the ugly coastal part of ANWR pictured below.

According to this article 38.9 million TV viewers watched John McCain accept the Republican nomination on Thursday. That number is slightly more than the 38.3 million people who tuned in for Obama's speech last week. That surprised me and got me to wondering about the hype around Barack Obama's celebrity. I think that people are really wanting to know more about the candidates this year. I think that there are a lot more undecided folks than the polls are showing. I hope I don't look too much like the guy in the cartoon :)

ASBO Jesus is a phenomenon not even founder Jon Birch saw coming. His site speaks about controversial issues in the church such as female pastors, cutting, abuse, but Birch uses few words—he lets his cartoons tell the story. And just because they’re animated doesn’t mean they’re so easily dismissed. Millions flock to The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus each week to check out the latest cartoons, comment on social issues, and find encouragement in the community. Jon, who lives across the pond (that is, in Great Britain) took time out of his work to do a Q&A via e-mail.

Not everyone is familiar with ASBO Jesus, what exactly is your site about?

It’s a blog where I put up cartoons on issues of faith and the church. Sometimes satirical, sometimes empathetic, sometimes ridiculous. Over time, quite a community has grown, so I’ve used the cartoons to stimulate discussion. The purpose of the site is to say things, or bring things up for debate or thought which are often thought yet seldom said (at least not in public) by people of faith. Having said that, the site is open to people who have lost faith, or are still working it all out (Aren’t we all?)

You can catch the whole interview here.. but read at your own risk.. it might scare a bit of religion out of you :)

According to this article the Emmy Awards will celebrate some of TV's most memorable lines from the past six decades in honor of the ceremony's 60th anniversary. Got me to thinking about great lines of days gone by.. here are a few of my favorites:

Bang, Zoom, to the moon Alice!! [Ralph - Honeymooners]

Live long and propser! [Spock - Star Trek]

Wilmaaaaaa! [Fred - Flintstones]

This is the big one! I’m coming Elizabeth. [Fred - Sanford & Son]

Norm! [All - Cheers]

Sock it it me! [All - Laugh In]

Heeeey! [Fonzie - Happy Days]

What you talkin’ about Willis [Arnold - Different Strokes]

Engage [Picard - Star Trek TNG]

Up your nose with a rubber hose. [Vinne Barberino - Welcome back Kotter]

This comment by rmkton over at Julie's place resonated with my thinkings of late:

I think it is interesting to hear folks say that they vote Republican based upon the pro-life stand when it seems obvious to me that Republicans have no interest in actually overturning Roe v. Wade.

It is an easy stand to take to be pro-life when you know it will garner a lot of votes and yet the practicality of passing anti-abortion legislation is nil. I think it is why many Republicans pur forth anti-abortion bills with no provision for the health of the mother which they know will get shot down....then they can claim to be pro-life and demonize those who allow for abortion as "baby killers".

Abortion proponents at least say they are for it...but the anti-abortion crowd say they are against it, but do nothing practically to stop it. Appointing conservative supreme court justices ain't gonna do it.

I have been voting prolife since Reagan and I am thoroughly disgusted that these who depend on our prolife votes do absolutely nothing to overturn Roe v. Wade. Ever wonder:

what our country would look like if our conservative majority (i.e. Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Kennedy) supreme court ever had the courage of their conviction to take on Roe?

how many conservative jurists it will take (6, 7, 8 or all of them) to take on Roe?

how many babies would be saved if abortion was controlled by the states?

how many states would actually outlaw all abortions?

why the Republican Party did nothing to overturn Roe when it had both the congress and the presidency for the first six years of this millenium?

I am already hearing the rhetoric in my head.. I espoused it for 25+ years.. I understand it.. I just think that it is irrational to allow this issue to cause us to ignore all of the other issues.

about bob

I am married, have two grown children and two grandchildren. I have worked as a soldier, software designer, technician, and a pastor. I am now retired. I write here to share my intuitions on life, faith, trivia, politics, entertainment and other stuff. Check out the menu bar above for more info and click on these to follow my internet comings and goings.